their jerry jones, he owns chelsea. in no time i predict will you will be loving or loathing manchester united. either way, i hope you enjoy the season. that's "hardball" for now. thank you for being with us, and thank you, chris, for allowing me this privilege this week. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts right now. thanks, michael, and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, the gop's three-ring circus. today yet another sitting republican congressman is on the hook for embracing this hateful rodeo clown. who wore a president obama mask at the missouri state fair. congressman steve king tweeted, "mr. president, invite the rodeo clown to the white house for a beer summit. take the temperature down. have a laugh, relax. it's not about race." it's not about race.

the fair goer who shot this video said other clowns played with the lips on the obama mask, and that the whole thing felt like a clan rally. this is ugly and tone deaf, but increasingly, the republican party is refusing to listen to anyone except its own carnival barkers. today republicans voted to boycott nbc and cnn as debate sponsors if the networks don't scrap their hillary clinton films. >> we're done putting up with this nonsense. there are plenty of other news outlets. we'll still reach voters, maybe more voters. but cnn and nbc anchors will just have to watch on their competitors' networks. >> now whether you like the idea of a hillary movie or not, it does seem strange that the gop's

big idea to reach more viewers is to shut out two national networks from debates, while reportedly trying to get the gop ringmaster himself, rush limbaugh, to moderate instead. after the election, the gop said to get more votes it had to widen the tent. instead the circus tent is collapsing. and today political reports that establishment republicans know it. they see 2013 as a, quote, disaster in the making. and they realize the party is actually in a worse place than it was november 7th, the day after the disastrous election. the gop's extremism is doing real and serious damage to itself and to the country. joining me now is joy reid, managing editor of thegrio.com, and e.j. dionne from "the

washington post." thank you both for joining me. >> thanks. >> good to be with you, rev. >> e.j., has the rodeo clown become a symbol for everything that is wrong with the gop right now? >> oh, i don't know. i think there is a sort of clown car aspect to all of this. i mean, it's really striking that people who are talking about the problems the party confronts aren't just liberals or democrats. there is the piece today in politico under the great headline "eve of destruction" about how worried republicans are about the signal they're going to send if they shut down the government or let us default on debt. republicans are very worried. and in this business about debates, i mean, i don't particularly care where republicans debate, and i don't think democrats would actually pay rush limbaugh's airfare if he were chosen as one of the debate moderator. but no debate moderator forced mitt romney to talk about

self-deportation or forced rick perry to forget about an agency of government. i still think they need to worry a whole lot more about the message, including the message sent by some of this really pretty vile kind of stuff against president obama. >> now, you know, there may be, joy, listening to e.j., there may be a reason that the rnc wants fewer people to watch their debates. when you listen to what the candidates said in the primary debates last time around, look at this. >> so if you don't deport them, how do you send them home? >> well, the answer is self-deportation. >> it's three agencies of government when i get there that are gone. commerce, education and the -- what's the third one, let's see. >> this whole idea that you have to compare and take care of everybody. >> but congressman, are you saying the society should just let him die? >> no. >> let's see. i can't. the third one, i can't. sorry. oops.

>> maybe they have a good strategy there to cut off the people that would view, because these are real live things that happen during the republican primary debates last year. >> i think, rev, probably the most important part of the clips you showed is the person in the audience that screamed yeah. >> persons. >> who were saying let him die. you have another debate where a gay soldier stood up and got booed by the audience. it's not just a the candidates that are problem for the gop, it's the audience. people whooping it up at that rodeo clown show are all they have left. they're going to be able to fit inside a circus tent because they're shrinking down. because of the rush limbaughs of the world, because they're letting their immediate kragh people controlling the messaging, which they wanted to do for a long time, but the smart people wouldn't let them is they're now just down to extreme talk radio-style messaging. that's all they're doing all the time. and they're depending that their political people do it too.

>> and they will not condemn the extremists. >> exactly. >> they will not stand up to them. and e.j., that is what is killing them. republican senator david vitter was caught on tape at a town hall meeting just yesterday delivering an encore performance of mitt romney's infamous 47% comments. listen to this. >> i wish you were right, that nobody wants obama care. that's not true. in fact, the other side, who absolutely wants it, most of whom are getting something for nothing, came out in droves in the last election and side sat at home. >> getting something for now. now people with preexisting conditions, to get young people covered by their parents until age 26, on and on, these are people that are trying to get something for nothing, beggars wanting a handout. this kind of a fence is what is

killing this party. >> oh, i think that's right. and by the way, for the record, when i mentioned those debate moments, i had no idea you were going to show that clip. >> you should never underestimate me, e.j. >> i never underestimate you, reverend. but i think this comment shows that however much some conservatives try to run away from mitt romney's 47% comments, it's deeply ingrained, that view, in part of the right wing. and i don't think you would hear senator vitter say that about senior citizens who vote in larger numbers for republicans about medicare, or about social security. why is it that getting health care to the uninsured is the only thing that they're really going to talk about something for nothing when it comes -- when it comes to health care? and i think the other thing is you're going to start seeing some real defenses of obama care. i certainly hope so, because i think a lot of people will

realize they have a lot to lose. a lot of americans not only poorer americans who need health coverage, but a lot of middle class americans, who as you suggested, really support a lot of provisions like being able to keep their kids on their health plan. >> you know, joy, the politico reports that gop insiders, these insiders now, are worried about that, the fact that the party, quote, is hurting itself with the very voters they need to start winning back -- hispanics, blacks, gays, women, and swing voters of all stripes. and listen to all the things republicans have said in just the last few months since announcing their big rebranding effort. listen to. this. >> my father had a ranch. we used to hire 50 to 60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes. >> and the incidents of rape resulting in pregnancy are very

low. >> how did america get so mediocre? >> i think parents- both parents started working. and the mom is in the workplace. >> for everyone who is a valedictorian, there is another 100 out there that they weigh 130 pounds and they've got cavs the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert. >> i have no idea. >> even at this point? >> well, i don't know. was there a birth certificate? you tell me. some people tell me that was not his birth certificate. i'm saying i don't know. >> so with all of this autopsy, joy, with all of this, we need to reach out, expand the tent. we need to really make a new party. these are the kind of things that they have representing their party. to the core, they can't change it. >> exactly. and what you just showed there, that was the core demographic of the republican party now. it is a generation of almost entirely men, almost entirely white there are women in it as well, who come from a generation where they resent the changes

that took place in the 20th century. they resent things like bussing. they resent affirmative action. they resent the social safety net. they themselves even use, that actually help their families. but now they see the social safety net as something that only minorities, immigrants are trying to take, and they're taking it from them. and that resentment, nurtured on their right wing talk radio and on fox news is all they've got. you can't grow if that's where you are. >> but i thought they at least would want health care for grandma and other things. i mean, i understand, e.j. i understand, joy, some of them may not like me. but don't they like grandma? i mean their own grandma. >> she is a taker. >> joy reid, e.j. dionne, thanks for your time tonight. have a great weekend. >> you too. coming up, new york city officials begin appealing the stop and frisk ruling, even though a judge said it violates the constitutional rights of minorities. plus, first lady michelle obama is speaking out on the march on washington.

and getting personal about having our first african-american president. and bill o'reilly made a big admission last night in an attempt to discredit and smear me. tonight i'm responding and exposing his monumental hypocrisy. stay with us. right now, 7 years of music is being streamed. a quarter million tweeters are tweeting. and 900 million dollars are changing hands online. that's why hp built a new kind of server. one that's 80% smaller.

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have you joined the "politicsnation" conversation on facebook yet? we hope you will. today lots of people were talking about the first lady's comments about how her husband's presidency will help change things for the next generation of americans. jessica says i certainly hope so, and hope that change is for

the better. tony says, "kids do not look at color. it is the adults that put prejudice and ugly in their minds." we've got more from the first lady's new interview coming up. but first, we want to hear what you think of her comments. please head over to facebook and search "politicsnation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. [ male announcer ] america's favorite endless shrimp is back! people wait for this promotion all year long. and now there are endless ways to love it...

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made good on their threat and filed an appeal challenging a judge's ruling that the police' stop and frisk policy violated the constitutional rights of minorities. mayor bloomberg took to the airwaves again today to defend the law and attack the judge for her decision. >> think about this judge who -- and stop and frisk. what does she know about policing? absolutely zero. your safety and the safety of your kids is now in the hands of someone woman who does not have the expertise to do it. >> judge shira scheindlin doesn't have the expertise? she is a federal judge who also served as a united states attorney. mayor bloomberg certainly doesn't have her kind of experience. the truth is this program violates people's rights and the city of new york needs to stop defending it. today's appeal only serves to delay justice.

joining me now is "new york times" -- a former "new york times" columnist bob herbit. thanks for being here, bob. >> appreciate it. nice to be here, reverend. >> bob, i want a quote from an article about you -- you wrote about the stop and frisk policy. and the quote i want to read you said, "imagine michael bloomberg being stopped on the street by police and ordered in contemptuous tones to spread his arms and legs wide and lean over the hood of a car. such humiliating treatment by the police has been a daily reality for staggering numbers of young black and latino new yorkers." i mean, why is the mayor continuing to defend this policy? >> you know, i pointed out in that piece, which is on a blog post that i wrote at deem moses.org. and i pointed out in the piece that the mayor has been contemptuous of the judge in

this case as he and the police department under the stop and frisk program. i think the important thing for new yorkers to understand how humiliating and degrading this program really is, and the fact that it is deliberately targeted at black and brown new yorkers. >> right. >> the second thing, that's the most important thing. >> racial profiling. >> the government should not be in the business of degrading its own citizens. the second thing, though, that is really important is it's preposterous to consider this an effective crime fighting tool, because as i pointed out, virtually everybody that they're stopping is innocent. if you use the police department's own statistics, you'll find that they are -- they're not arresting criminals. >> right. >> they are not stopping crimes in progress. they are not seizing contraband guns or drugs or that sort of thing. and why? because the people that they're seizing -- that they're stopping are innocent.

>> 88% of the people they stop, nothing. and the percentage of those they do stop -- >> very minor offenses. >> as i pointed out in the piece, i have known over the years many, many people. i've talked to them who have had bogus charges filed against them, and these charges were thrown out either by the district attorney's office or by a judge once it got to court. >> but it almost seems irrational. some of us have worked with this mayor on different issues, totally irrational on this, totally attacking everybody that questions it. and now is going from bad to worse, because let me show you this. now he is suggesting today that fingerprinting public housing projects would bring down crime. >> the people that live there, most of them want more police protection. if you have strangers walking in the halls of your apartment building, don't you want somebody to stop and say who are you? why you here? what we really should have is

fingerprinting to get in. there is an allegation that some of these apartments aren't occupied by the people who originally have the lease. >> now, let me tell you what my problem is with that. you know a few weeks ago i had challenged the democratic candidates for mayor to spend the night in a housing project with me, and we did. we were in apartments that had four and five-year molds on the wall that you couldn't get repaired. elevators that wouldn't work. you had teenagers that had elevators that they've never seen operate in their lifetime. but you're going to take money to fingerprint people in housing projects, and you won't even repair their apartments? >> why people would never put up with it. if you were going to go into a white neighborhood and start talk about fingerprinting people before they would be allowed to go in and out of their own homes, there would be outrage over the whole city. the idea that he could suggest this about african-americans and latinos is just disgusting. and the other thing is, as you're pointing out, if you want to do something to help the people who are living in public housing projects, take care of

the conditions in those projects that the city is responsible for. and if there is crime in the projects, provide them with adequate police protection. >> let me get this response from you quickly. commissioner ray kelly of new york will be on "meet the press" this sunday in a preview clip that we just got, he says "stop and frisk helps fight crime." watch this and give me your response. >> nobody wants to be stopped at the very least, you're giving up your time. but we need some balance here. we have record low numbers of murders in new york city, record low numbers of shootings. we're doing something right to save lives. >> the crime started going down under dave dinkins in 1990. >> yes, it did. >> this is way before stop and frisk was -- >> and the police officers that giuliani and ray kelly and michael bloomberg have been able to use to help fight crime in the city are the result of legislation passed by mayor dinkins that raise taxes to pay

for additional police officers on the beat. but just one final point. all the people who say that stop and frisk is an important crime fighting tool never explain, they're never willing to explain how this fights crime, how does stopping innocent people stop crime? you never get those answers. >> bob herbert, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you so much. >> have a great weekend. coming up, first lady michelle obama is speaking out on the dream and the 50th anniversary on the march on washington. plus some alarming news on obesity in america. we'll hear from "the view's" sherri shepherd on how to fight. and bill o'reilly disagrees with me. so he resorts to smears. my special response on why he needs to grow up, ahead. when did you know that grandma was the one? when her sister dumped me. grandpa was my dad a good athlete? no. oh dad, you remember my friend alex? yeah. the one that had the work done... good to see you.

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raise your hand if you're in the mood for a little conspiracy theory on a friday night. ah, i knew you would. it has to do with this iconic picture of president obama in the situation room the night of the bin laden raid. this week the president's former aide said he and the president played a few rounds of cards that night. and now a conservative radio host named brian fisher says there is no way the president was really in the photo. >> i believe if you go look at

that picture, i think the odds are good that he was photo shopped into that picture. look at the size of his head compared to the size of the head of everybody else in the room. even people standing in the back of the room, their heads are bigger than his head. and it looks teeny tiny. next to the people he is sitting next to. he looks kind of hunched over and small. >> whoa, this is some groundbreaking stuff. let's see that picture again. wow. look at the size of the president's head. it's so tiny. let's bring out the pulitzer for mr. fisher. but to be fair, he is really in a long line of esteemed cracked right wing reporters who continued the good work of exposing the president's photo shopping sprees. like this one. the president appears to be in chicago throwing a football. but thanks to those conservative

bloggers like the breitbart site, the president is exposed. why is the president looking up? nobody looks up when throwing a football. and his eyes, they say they're oddly large. yes, america, another walter cronkite moment from the fringe. but this one was the woodward and bernstein moment. president obama is supposedly skeet shooting at camp david. but conservative bloggers and pundits lit up the internet exposing the truth. the angle of the gun is all wrong. it was a weird smoke pattern. the president's poor posture shows it can't be real. and he is not even wearing a hat. we all know skeet shooters always wear hats. but guys, wait, you missed one. >> you remember a few months ago my administration put out a photograph of me going skeet shooting at camp david? do you remember that? and quite a number of people

insisted that this had been photo shopped. but tonight i have something to confess. you were right. guys, can we show them the actual photo? >> that's a joke. and so is the crazy conspiracy theory that the president wasn't in this photo. nice try, but frame this one. we got you. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. [ robert ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. [ crashing ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums.

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this is the meaning of our liberty and our creed while men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant, can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath. >> 1.8 million people gathered on the national mall that frigid january day in 2009 as barack

obama was sworn in as our nation's first black president. it was an historic day, centuries in the making, and it's a national milestone that is all the more poignant this summer, as we get ready to commemorate the 50th anniversary of dr. martin luther king jr.'s march on washington. in a candid new interview, the first lady reflects on how far we have come in the decades since, saying, quote, have i immense hope. we just finished our visit to africa and spent time on robben island with one of the president mandela's cell block mates. mandela took a lot of the lessons from dr. king's time to heart. to come back to the united states with an african-american president who has been influenced by both king and mandela, that is a reason to be hopeful about all that dr. king sacrificed. when asked if he -- if having

african-american family in the white house has moved the needle on race, the first lady says absolutely. children born in the last eight years will only have known an african-american man being president of the united states. that changes the bar for all of our children, regardless of their race, their sexual orientation, their gender. it expands the scope of opportunity in their minds, and that's where change happens. real change is happening. and if we -- as we prepare to mark 50 years since the march on washington, it's important to celebrate how far we have come. joining me now are nancy giles, tv commentator and hume morist, and allison samuels, senior writer for the daily beast, and author of the new book "what would michelle do?" thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> thank you. >> allison, let me start with you. what did you make of the first

lady's comments? >> well, i thought that she thought it was very important to just remind people how far we have come, how important it is to see an african-american family in the white house in 2013. we're in the wake of the trayvon martin case, where so many things happened that were very sort of divisive. and a lot of people felt like we were going backwards in many ways. what she wanted to do is remind us that many strides have been made. a lot of progress has been made, and that we can't lose sight of that. it is easy to do with the recent events of the last couple of weeks. but i think what the first lady was trying to do is just to remind us to keep hope alive. >> and i think we need a balance, nancy, of remembering the progress we've made and still dealing with the issues of today as allison points out. i mean, the stand your ground laws, voting rights and all, we're marching about that next saturday. but i think that it should inspire us to see the progress made that gives us the strength to keep marching. and no one is a better symbol of

that than the first lady, who has been the target of so many attacks from the right. and yet she has made the decision just to ignore the noise. listen to this. >> i grew up in the same neighborhoods, went to the same schools, faced the same struggles, shared the same hopes and dreams that all of you share. i am you. and the only reason that i am standing up here today is that back when i was your age, i made a set of choices with my life, do you hear me? choices. i chose not to listen to the doubters and the haters. >> i mean, that's really inspirational. >> she is just -- look, she is magnificent. and she inspires me in so many ways because she is public school educated. you know, she just worked really, really hard. and i agree with what allison was saying. and i know it can be a very

pessimistic time, but just the sight of she and barack obama and their two daughters in the white house is a mind-boggling thing. i have a friend victor whose son alex was 7 years old. this is a white kid, white family. and he was drawing a picture of all the presidents of the united states. this is right after president obama was elected. it's going to be on your website, this picture. and all of the presidents that he drew had brown skin. and some of them had dresses. so for alex -- >> i think we have the picture. wow. >> that's by alex slezak. >> this is what mrs. obama was talking about. >> this is exactly what she is saying. look, we're more than just a nation of immigrants. i hate when people southwest say that's all we are. we're a nation of ancestors of kidnap victims, of victims of genocide. we have all kinds of colors of people that are united states citizens. and for young kids, this is normal for them. a black president and a black family that are successful. >> it changes the psyche.

>> it's powerful. it's so powerful. >> and we need to show what we have accomplished, to show what we can. >> absolutely. >> if we continue to deal with it. but not ducking what is going on. >> no. >> doesn't solve it either. >> no. >> you know, allison, mrs. obama has approached her initiatives even differently as first lady. her let's move campaign is even out with a hip-hop album. listen to this. ♪ it's hard to believe that almost exactly one year ago, we launched a nationwide campaign called let's move to help solve the problem of childhood obesity in this country. ♪ everybody help somebody it's your body come on ♪ ♪ everybody tell somebody. >> she is really showing some innovation here, something you would never have seen a first lady do.

>> no, that's very true. and what i love what she has done, she took an issue that was important to her. a lot of people thought it wasn't lofty enough, it wasn't extreme enough. she felt like this is an issue that she could get a handle on and make a big difference. with and she has. that's the sort of amazing part about michelle obama, being very clear about who she, what she wanted to do and the impact she wanted to have. and i think people have seen that impact now, and they're amazed have that program has done so well that is the genius of michelle obama. >> they also in the interview, nancy, she was asked about -- talk of a female president. and she said, quote, yes, i think the country is ready for it. it's just a question of who is the best person out there. >> right. >> she was then asked about secretary clinton. could she get the job? and she replied she hasn't announced anything, so i'm certainly not going to get ahead of her. and when they asked her if she'll run, the first lady said unequivocally no. >> flatly no.

>> i think she would be -- already she has just proven to be so magnanimous. i think she could be a brilliant politician. but come on, this has been the spotlight like you have never seen before. and the kind of criticism she has gotten about really, it's almost like the people who are criticizing have been reaching for criticisms. this is a person who supported military families along with dr. jill biden, exquisitely. and as allison was saying, the let's move program has taken something like hip-hop, and some people have problems with that style of music. it's gotten kids moving. it's getting them to move weight. they're planting gardens. they're eating better. >> it's a whole new life stieshlgs it's a whole new thing. and it helps our nation's children do better in school. everything she does is just so positive. >> allison, do you think she'll ever want to run for office? allison? >> yes? >> do you think that the first lady will ever run for office? >> no, i don't think so. i don't think that's her temperament. i think that she, you know, has gone through a lot during the last sort of years with her

husband. and i think she has seen a lot. and i think she feels like her best work can be done in a less visible spot where people work together and it's not so much division. i think that's what she would prefer to do. >> well, she is certainly inspiring. i told the president the real reason i lost weight is i wanted to be the pinup guy for the first lady's campaign on health. she never picked me. i didn't even make the hip-hop album. but i tried. nancy giles, allison, thank you for your time. have a good weekend. >> thank you. thank you so much. coming up, troubling news on the obesity epidemic in america. sherri shepherd wrote about it. she wrote about how to fix it, and you'll hear from her ahead. and later, why bill o'reilly needs to grow up. how his so-called revelation actually exposed what kind of person he is. asional have constipation,

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we're back with big news on one of america's most serious health problems, the obesity epidemic. we had thought that what obesity was responsible was for about 5% of the deaths in america. but that number is actually much higher. a new study finds that 18% of

deaths are due to obesity-related illnesses. this is a concern of mine, and many other people in the news and entertainment industry, including sherri shepherd, co-host on "the view." she is tackling this serious topic in a new book. and i recently sat down with sherri to talk about her struggles with diabetes and weight, and why she decided to go public with her story. >> you know why? i'm always -- from my days of doing stand-up comedy, i've always been public, you know, and i just felt like i'm letting you know everything about me. there is not too much you can come to me and say i'm going to blackmail you, because i'm very, very open. with diabetes, especially in the african-american community, and the latino community, it is like the fourth killer of african-americans and latinos. and i have it. and i'm very passionate about letting people know, this is something that we have got to get under control, because it is killing us. >> no doubt about it. now, you know you said you were

surrounded by diabetes as a child. let me read a quote. >> okay. >> it says "my community is like the diabetes hall of fame -- aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins. when i was a sid, i actually thought limbs, toes, and feet just went away. my family was no different than a lot of others in my predominantly african-american neighborhood. we kids were always hearing the adults talk about this person down the street got the sugar. it sounded harmless." i know about that. when did you realize the sugar wasn't harmless, and that you were at risk? >> i realized the sugar was not harmless when my mother passed away at 41 years old from diabetic complications. that's when i realized wait a minute, this is serious. when i saw that on her death certificate. she went into a diabetic coma. my mother, i never remember her being -- eating healthy. she would always drink a lot of fruit punch. she had a lot of donut, a lot of

candy. she was always going to the hospital because she had insulin reactions. her internal organs just started shutting down, one by one. and she went into a coma. i think with a term called the sugar, you don't take it seriously, because it sounds kind of cute. >> sugar is sweet. >> sugar is sweet. so when that uncle rolled up to the table and got macaroni and cheese and he had the one leg, you didn't think about it. he just got the sugar. >> no, it's amazing. but you ignored your own diagnosis for a while. and then you say that you had an experience involving your son that made you come to terms with this. >> right. >> tell us about this. >> it wasn't after my mother passed away that i changed, it was after i got the diagnosis of diabetes. i went home and had a big bowl of pasta, and then i got sleepy because my blood sugar had spiked. i didn't know that then. i got sleepy, and i just had this vision of jeffrey, my son, at about 5 years old, holding

his teddy bear. he was in the dark crying, because he was trying to figure out where heaven was, because everybody was telling him that's where mommy was. and that vision of my son who was born at 5 1/2 months, he was a wound, ten ounce, he's got special needs, that vision is what made me lift my head up and say okay, lord, i got it. i got it. i got to change my life, or i'm going to do to my son what my mother did to me. >> i really, really admire you, because it is subtle churl. -- cultural. i have friends that call me now and say are you all right? they never asked me that when i was obese. that's when i wasn't all right. >> we eat so much, we think you must be getting sick if you lose weight. we come from, like in my family, we eat. we fry everything. i didn't know what sating was until i got diabetes. >> that's right. >> we don't saute. we fry it. and we could keep the grease in a can in the middle of the stove and reuse the same grease. so not healthy at all. >> i have to ask you about "the view." >> yes. >> since i have you here. you all have a hot table.

>> we do. >> you've got some -- everybody around political persuasion. how does that work for you? >> you know, i love it. it's been so challenging. my whole mantra for my life is do it scared. so anything that scarce me, i say yes. so when barbara walters called and asked me to be a regular co-host, i was scared to death, because i came from a religion. i used to be a jehovah's witness. we didn't vote. so we didn't get involved in politics. so i got put right at the table in the middle of politics. i didn't vote until president obama ran. that was my very first time going in the voting booth. >> what made you vote then? >> you know why? because i was sitting at a table where i had to learn about politics. and i knew nothing about it. in order to talk to these ladies about it, i had to learn about it. and i did it one step at a time. i figured how does politics affect me and my son. that's how i did it. that's how i learned about politics. so i took my son in the voting booth with me. >> yeah, i was going to ask you about that. >> he had a temper tantrum. we almost went republican for a minute. he almost pulled the wrong

lever. but we made it through. >> he watched you vote? >> i taught him victory, we got it. yes. >> the president came and did the show a couple of times. >> yes. >> what was that like? >> it was pretty awesome. i'm very proud of him for my son. you know, when president obama won, i went in my son's room and i cried, because i said it's actually true. you actually could be president of the united states, jeffrey. >> and that's an awesome thing for a mother who couldn't say that. >> i could not say it. you hear it, but you don't believe it. and i took jeffrey out of school, because i wanted him to get a picture with the president. he had a meltdown. i don't want to get a picture with the president. if you don't get in there and sit on his lap. >> let's show a clip of you guys with the president. >> we're happy to welcome the president and the first lady of the united states, barack and michelle obama. >> we're very happy that you came on with us, mrs. obama, and brought your date. >> i brought him with me.

he had a few minutes in his schedule. >> i told folks i'm just supposed to be eye candy here for you guys. >> now -- and they are a wonderful couple. >> a wonderful couple. i still -- i still grin. i was grinning like a donkey the whole time i was sitting on the show. it's something i feel very proud of this couple, you know, seeing someone that looks like me. because for so many years we had to see other people. and just it was just a wonderful day when they came on the show. >> well, i thought it was wonderful. i thought y'all handled it wonderful. but i'm very, very proud of you and plan d. and i hope a lot of people, because i've certainly got into that mentality. i hope a lot of people read this book, change their thinking. >> i just want people to know if you're prediabetic, don't be scared. if you follow the steps that i've outlined in this book, you won't come over to the side i'm on. and i just tell people, it's a fun read, because i'm a fun

person. i've broken diabetes down for people who can't understand it. go out and get it. don't stay in a position of doing nothing and hiding. >> sherri shepherd, thanks for joining us tonight. and good luck with the book. >> thank you very much. up next, it's a special edition of "reply al." my response to bill o'reilly and a pattern of hypocrisy. right now, 7 years of music is being streamed. a quarter million tweeters are tweeting. and 900 million dollars are changing hands online. that's why hp built a new kind of server. one that's 80% smaller. uses 89% less energy. and costs 77% less.

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it's time for a special edition of "reply al." on his show last night, bill o'reilly was apparently offended that i called him out for labeling some of america's poor as, quote, parasites. so he tried to defend himself by revealing something i've never shared with the public either, that he once donated money to my

nonprofit to help provide gifts and foods to kids at christmas. >> so i gave sharpton a $25,000 donation to provide the gifts and the food. i never mentioned it. because it wasn't necessary to mention it. but now it is. to prove exactly what kind of personal sharpton is. >> bill doesn't realize it, but this story actually reveals what kind of person he is. it says more about him than it does me, because bill gave that money privately to someone he's publicly called, quote, a race hustler, working in what he calls the grievance industry. that's the term that he uses for civil rights work that i do. what are we supposed to think about a man who privately is generous, but who says the most vile and divisive things in

public? why would bill quietly donate that money to my group while loudly telling his right-wing audience that this is what he thinks of me? >> al sharpton and the grievance industry trike back that is the subject of this evening's talking points memo. what the grievance industry does want is to divide the country along racial lines. the tide may be turning against the sharptons and the race hustlers in general. the race hustlers and their sympathizers have descended into the gutter. >> this is the worst kind of gutter talk. but if bill really thinks that about me, why did he agree to speak at a conference for my civil rights group, the national action network, a few years ago? look, there he is at a convention for the grievance industry. and why would bill give a so-called race hustler $25,000 to help the poor at christmas? and why would he write a check

to help people that he's called parasites who just want stuff? >> the obama administration is encouraging parasite tots come out, and, you know, take as much as they can. >> the majority of blacks want money spent to level the playing field, to redistribute income from the white establishment. there. >> are 50% of the voting public who want stuff. they want things. and who is going to give them things? president obama. >> the sad truth. the sad truth is that the good that bill did with the check he wrote is filed away by the violent and hateful things he says on the air night after night. bill is playing to the extremists in his audience, and it shows. it shows what is wrong with the right wing today. they can't disagree without being disagreeable. they have to make personal attacks on anyone who has a different point of view, and it's not just me, it's true of

everyone, from sandra fluke to president obama. that needs to change. america is better than. this and i hoechst my friends on the right are better than tattoo. all right. that's enough for tonight. that's it for tonight's show. i hope everyone has a great weekend, including you, bill. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. >> eve of destruction. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm michael south america connish -- i'm michael smerconish. leading off tonight, hope or hopeless? despite a litany of challenges facing republicans, pa